Maternity pay in the United States: how employers handle it
Reviewed by Mellow Editorial Team, HR & payroll content team
Maternity pay in the United States is not mandated by federal law. There is no statutory federal requirement for employers to pay workers during maternity leave — but a patchwork of federal protections, state laws, and employer policy choices means the picture is more complex than that single fact suggests.
What federal law actually requires
The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) is the main federal framework. It entitles eligible employees to up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-protected leave for the birth or adoption of a child. Crucially, it is unpaid leave, not paid leave.
To be covered by FMLA, an employer must have 50 or more employees within 75 miles of the worksite. The employee must have worked for at least 12 months and logged at least 1,250 hours in the preceding year. Smaller employers and newer employees may fall outside this protection entirely.
The Pregnant Workers Fairness Act (PWFA), which took effect in 2023, adds a separate layer: it requires covered employers (25 or more employees) to provide reasonable accommodations for pregnancy, childbirth, and related conditions. This covers things like adjusted duties or modified schedules, not paid leave.
Beyond that, the Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibits treating pregnant employees less favorably than other employees with similar temporary limitations.
State paid family leave programs
Several states have enacted their own paid family leave (PFL) programs. California, New York, New Jersey, Washington, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Oregon, Colorado, and a handful of others require employers to participate in state-run or state-administered insurance funds. Benefits are typically funded through employee payroll deductions, sometimes with an employer contribution, and replace a portion of the employee's wages during leave.
Benefit amounts, duration, and funding structures vary considerably by state. Some states pay benefits directly to the employee; others route payments through the employer. If you have employees in any of these states, your payroll process must include the correct deductions and filings — failure to withhold correctly creates liability.
States without their own program — including Texas, Florida, and many others — rely entirely on federal FMLA, meaning eligible employees get unpaid, job-protected leave and nothing more unless the employer voluntarily offers pay.
How employer-paid maternity leave works in practice
Many employers voluntarily offer paid maternity leave as a benefit, either to attract talent or to retain employees in competitive hiring markets. The mechanics vary:
Salary continuation. The employer simply continues the employee's regular pay during leave. This is the most straightforward model and requires no special payroll structure beyond normal processing. The payments are treated as regular wages: subject to federal income tax withholding (using the employee's Form W-4 elections), FICA deductions (Social Security at 6.2% up to the annual wage base, Medicare at 1.45% with no cap, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare surcharge for high earners if applicable), and any applicable state withholding.
Short-term disability (STD) insurance. Many employers use a short-term disability policy to cover the period around childbirth — typically six to eight weeks for a vaginal delivery, slightly longer for a cesarean. The employee files a claim, and the insurer pays a percentage of salary. Whether those benefits are taxable depends on how premiums were paid: if the employer paid premiums pre-tax, benefits are taxable to the employee; if the employee paid with after-tax dollars, benefits are generally not taxable. This has payroll implications you need to track carefully.
PTO or accrued leave. Some employers allow or require employees to use accrued vacation or sick time concurrently with FMLA leave. This can convert otherwise unpaid FMLA leave into paid time, using the employee's existing accrued balance.
Combinations of these approaches are common. For example, an employee might use two weeks of accrued PTO, then six weeks of STD benefits, then take the remainder of FMLA unpaid.
Payroll tax and reporting obligations
Regardless of how leave pay is structured, employer obligations on the payroll side do not disappear during maternity leave. Wages paid during leave are still subject to the same withholding and remittance rules. Employers must continue making timely federal tax deposits, file Form 941 quarterly, and report all wages on the employee's Form W-2 by January 31. If a third-party insurer pays STD benefits, the employer and insurer need to coordinate who handles FICA withholding and W-2 reporting — the rules here are specific and worth verifying with your payroll provider or tax advisor.
If you have employees in multiple states, how Mellow runs payroll across six countries on one platform illustrates why consistent payroll infrastructure matters when rules diverge by jurisdiction.
Building a clear written policy
Whatever approach you choose, document it in writing. A clear maternity leave policy should specify: the length of paid and unpaid leave offered, eligibility criteria, how state benefits interact with any employer-paid benefit, and the process for requesting leave. Consistency matters — applying different terms to different employees without objective justification creates discrimination risk. Review the policy any time you hire into a new state, since your obligations may change immediately.
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